Olympics

To start off, let me reassure the reading public that I have made many strides in packing since my last post.  Things are pretty together at this point, and I have reached the stage that I am freaking out that my bags are too big.  That being said, they never have been, and I go through this every time, but I will feel better (or have to reevaluate things) tomorrow after I weigh the bags at 'the house'.  It began to settle in as I packed that this is really it (even though it hasn't fully settled in that I have lived in Australia... strange, I know).  When I emptied my desk drawer I found the US cash that I had when I arrived; I put it back into my wallet (next to the prettier Australian money) - the first time my wallet has had non-plastic money in it for five months.

US and Australian bills playing nicely in my wallet.

Classes start tomorrow (err, today, it is 1:00) at the Uni, and Abs returned from New Zealand about 6:30 this evening in time for our little goodbye party.  I packed until about 7:00 and then went down to the kitchen to whip up a big pot of red beans and rice, and about 8:00 everyone (Kylie, Candice, Amanda, Max, and Joe) arrived and we settled in for dinner and watched the Olympics for the next few hours.  We caught some equestrian, gymnastics, swimming, and basketball (Australia lost to Brasil); in the events where the US and Australia faced each other, Max and I rooted for the States as the Aussies cheered on the yellow and green.

With so many guests, and so few dishes, we ended up having to use a few cups as bowls for the red beans and rice.  It came full circle from when I first made red beans and rice for Abs and Hannah and we hadn't bought bowls yet (http://vegemitebeignets.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/good-sized-city.html)...



Dinner from March 1 (top) and July 29 (bottom) - a throwback to our first New Orleans meal.

After we had our fill of food and sport watching, I said goodbye to Max and Joe (and the girls, but I will be seeing them again...).  With that, I am back up to finish up packing.  This is my last night at the house I have called home for the last five months, which is hard to believe.

Also tonight, I had a nice chat with Virgin Australia and now have my seat for the flight back to LAX.  Unfortunately it will be a Delta flight, not a Virgin flight - hopefully the service will be as good as when I came down.